Mauritius from the Pouce.

Title

Mauritius from the Pouce.

Description

View shows the view from "Le Pouce" to Le Pouce Bay on Mauritius. From "Narrative of the expedition of an american squadron to China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the command of Commodore MC Perry, United States Navy, by order of the government of the United States." This view is taken from the work on the US Navy expedition under the command of Matthew C. Perry (1794 - 1858) to the China Sea and Japan in 1852-54. The aim of the endeavour was to use "gunboat diplomacy" in an attempt to free Japan from its political and economic isolation. To capture this first glimpse of the isolated country, the artists Peter Bernhard Wilhelm Heine (1827 in Dresden - 1885 in Kötzschenbroda) and Eliphalet Brown (1816 - 1886) accompanied the expedition during this period. The writer Bayard Taylor (1825 in Kennett Square - 1878 in Berlin) was also on the expedition. The itinerary led from Norfolk (Virginia) via Madeira, St Helena, Cape Town, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Shanghai to the Japanese mainland and its islands.

ca. 1856

Artist

Duval & Co's

Historical Description

The island was discovered by Europeans in 1505 (other sources mention 1507 or even 1510) by the Portuguese Pedro Mascarenhas. He is still remembered by the name of the archipelago of the Mascarenes (consisting of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion). However, the Portuguese used the island only as a base and not as a colony. Admiral Wybrand van Warwijck took possession of the island for Holland in 1598 and named it after Prince Moritz of Orange. In 1715 the island was conquered by the French, who renamed it "Île de France". From 1767 the island was a French crown colony. In 1810, after a successful campaign - the so-called Mauritius Campaign - against France, the British under Commodore Josias Rowley occupied the island and renamed it Mauritius again. From 1958, Great Britain prepared Mauritius for its independence together with Rodrigues, became independent in 1968 and joined the Commonwealth.